Wang Grounds Pale Hose

Summer is only a few weeks away and the Yanks are heating up.

Chien-Ming Wang pitched a complete game gem, the Yankees first of the season, and a four-run third inning was enough as the Yanks downed the White Sox 5-1.  The Yankees have won five of seven and have sliced the Red Sox lead in the AL East to 10.5 games.

The Good:

Chien-Ming Wang.  The Wanger dominated on Wednesday night.  His only blip was in the third inning when the Sox played a little small ball to push across a run.  It's amazing what a well-pitched game can do for a team's (and a fan's) outlook.  Wang also kicked it old school by finishing what he started.  Wang pushed his record to 5-4 with this: 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K.

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod drilled a two-run single in the third inning to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead.  It should have been a double, but A-Rod wasn't digging out of the box.  It was a bang-bang play at second, but he looked safe.  A-Rod finished 2 for 4 with the two RBI and is now batting .303 on the year.

Melky Cabrera.  Melky is also starting to sizzle with his increased playing time.  He went 2 for 4, including a triple, and gunned down Jerry Owens at the plate in the sixth.

The Bad:

Poor baserunning.  The Yanks could have blown the game open earlier if they ran the bases better.  A-Rod was gunned out at second after hitting a ball to the left field wall and Jorge Posada was thrown out at second trying to advance on Hideki Matsui's sacrifice fly.  Those two plays helped Chicago starter Javier Vazquez escape the third inning.  Posada was later thrown out at third on a fielder's choice after doubling to lead off the sixth.

The Ugly:

Jason Giambi vs. Bud Selig.  Giambi may now be forced to cooperate with the George Mitchell investigation regarding steroids.  I'm not a huge Giambi fan.  In fact, the Giambi signing has come to symbolize the Yankees decline over the past few years.  And his statements recently about using "that stuff" was dumb.  But, Selig is wrong for going after him.  It just comes across as a strong-arm tactic.  Giambi was just speaking his mind.  Is that a punishable offense?  Check out Brian's take at depressedfan.com.

The Yanks will try and make it three out of four in the Windy City on Thursday as Mike Mussina will oppose another former Yankee, Jose Contreras.

Let's see if the Yankees hot streak can ignite The Moose.